Until the wheels fall off . . . keeping older cars

This is what I love about this forum. Just when you think you know it all, someone throws a curve at you. All of what you say does make sense and is completely logical. The safety aspect is definitely something to take into account. Every year cars do get safer and there is no substitute for safety.
As far as turning a wrench, I do that because I really enjoy it. My Prius (plural) have been so reliable that I actually take on other projects to satisfy my urge to do something mechanical (right now I'm building a workbench out of an old couch and a trampoline cage). If I weren't such a grease monkey (hobby only), I would probably do the same thing.

 

My 2002 Buick Century has 76,000mi. on it and is my back-up car. The only problem I've ever had with it was an intermittent HVAC and the problem was the ignition switch. I've had no reason to get rid of it yet, since it's been very dependable.

 

I've calibrated an 87 & 88 & 99 Camry to about 150k miles before engine block cracks and other engine issues (?!). The 2001 Prius is still being calibrated. I have yet to have the wheels fall off, but they can stop turning.

 

That's my current line of thinking. I'm not going to spend 10-15hrs/wk of my life driving a beater just because it the most economical thing to do. I'd rather spend the money to enjoy my driving experience.

With today's hybrid and electric technology I do not plan to keep a car beyond it's warranty period for the expensive parts. While it is often cheaper to just fix the failed part, you''re still stuck with a low valued car that is outdated in the fun department.

 

having gone thru 6 cars in the past 8 years and none of them going over 54,000 miles means i guess i have no comment although i do plan to keep my LEAF and Prius for a long time

 

Sorry in advance for my long post but, after reading all the comments I wanted to share my experience with keeping vehicles for a long time.

Vehicle#1 was a 84 Pontiac Sunbird. In 1991, I got the car for free because engine was shot so I had the vehicle towed to a technical school in the summer of 91 for use in their mechanics program for engine rebuilding. At the end of the school term I got the car back. The total rebuilding of the engine had only costed approximately $1000-1200 as it was students doing all the work so I paid for parts and shop supplies.

I kept the car in good running condition and in summer of 2000 I just finished paying about $1000 for repairs and also in addition to the repairsI spent ~$400 for new tires. Within 1 month of all this work, I was a victim of a hit and run while the car was parked. The car was totalled($3000 damage). Insurance initially offered me $500. The auto body shop told me that if they could have got the repairs under $3000 that insurance would have paid up to $2999. This made me very upset about the offer insurance gave me. I called Insurance and told them the offer wasn't good enough because the car was in good condition and I told them about the repairs and fact I had new tires on the car. They told me that when people buy a used car that tires on on them so they would not pay any extra for either the tires or repairs. They eventually went up to $600 (reason was that was what a similar model was selling for that amount, I could find no advertisement for a 84 Pontiac Sunbird for sale). They would not budge on the the amount. So I finally accept the offer of $600. Imagine my shock when I got a check for $350. I complained to the insurance company that since the vehicle was parked I should not have to pay any deductible and that I should get the full $600. They insisted that the deductible had to be applied because they do not know the responsible party was that was responsible for hitting my vehicle so they had no choice but to apply the deductible to me.

Vehicle #2 - So, I applied the $350 towards the purchase of 1997 Taurus GL wagon which got totalled in 2002 in a rear end collusion with a large truck. Background, both lanes of cars were stopped for a pedestrian when about 5-6 seconds latter the pedestrian is just a couple feet from the left side of my car when I hear an awful crumpling sound as head strikes the head rest and feel the car being pushed several meters down the road. I was really glad for witness in the lane beside me because the pedestrian put his head down and quickly scurried across the road. If wasn't for the kind person in the left lane I would have had no independent witness for the collision. This time the other parties insurance was responsible so I didn't have to pay my $500 deductible. After 1 week, insurance wrote my car off because estimated repair total was a few thousand more than the retail valve of car. After taking my license plate off the totalled car, my wife threw away the license plate insisting the plate is either unlucky or cursed. She practically threw way every I recovered from this car saying it was all unlucky or cursed.

Vehicle #3 - I replaced the car with a 2002 Taurus SE wagon with 48000 km on it. This time I have a new license plate on the car. This car I have certainly got my monies worth out of it. 10 years later the odometer is ~312564 km (194218 miles), the car now needs repairs which would total between $1000 and $2000 dollars. Remembering what happened with the Sunbird and the Taurus GL, I looked up the Red book value of car which is now under $2000. I have also been using app (Carango) to track my expenses and mileage for the last six months and currently my average fuel economy was ~12L/100km (11.8). I was re-fuelling (45-50L/~12-13 gallons every 3-4 days.) I am reluctant to spend any more money on the car as it is costing me too much to use for the amount of driving I do as a one vehicle family. My average yearly distance for the last 10 years was 36, 700km (22, 804 miles) and with the cost of fuel not getting any lower I need something more efficient.

As a one vehicle family, my priority needs: Cargo Space, Room for Family and fuel economy. So, just this week I have financed a 2012 Prius V (base model). This is the first new vehicle that I have ever owned as I have always purchased used vehicles. Within 5 days I have already travelled 495 km (307 miles) and I still have just 1 bar under half a tank. Trip meter says I am averaging 5.3 L/100 km and that I can go another 260 km. I will know better once I start tracking in Carango. So far, It looks like I will be fuelling up once a week instead of 2 t0 3 times a week. I am very pleased so far considering I used to using 45-50L every 400 km.

 

great stories, welcome to p/c. all the best with your new prius!

 

I can relate kinda. I bike commute a few times per week and until this year spent way more on bikes than cars.

 

My 2005 Dodge Neon I got new in July 2005. I drove it until Thursday, August 2nd when I sold it and bought my 2012 Prius III. It made it 85,300 miles. It was a good seven year run, but at that point it stopped being reliable in my opinion.

A number of people have told me you can keep old cars running past 100,000 miles, but it can get increasingly frustrating having things break on you. I was done visiting the mechanic on a regular basis. If I had no money, I would have just fixed up my old neon. None of my cars have made it past 100,000 miles so far.

 

I've tried to drive cars until the wheels fell off. Here's my tale.

#1 - 1973 Ford Pinto - bright, fire-engine red with black racing stripes and mag wheels. My father paid $2100 for this car, and then passed away before it was delivered. My mother gave it to me to take to university. I drove it for 5 years and 70,000 miles, cursing it most of the way. Got $1995 for it in trade in. I think it was the fancy wheels.

#2 - 1978 Saab 99 base model. My first car love. Drove for 8 years and 90,000 miles. A woman who could apparently not see straight ahead of her t-boned me at an intersection and totaled it.

#3 - 1986 Saab 900 base model. Lasted for 12 years and 80,000 miles (fewer road trips). Two weeks before my son and I were to leave on a road trip it was hit and totaled.

#4 - 1997 Subaru Outback base model. I bought this car after the '98s were out, so I got a terrific deal on it. I'd always bought base model cars, so niceties were few. I remember being thrilled that this car had cup holders, after having to balance a cup on the dashboard of the Saab. (Had one of those wide-base mugs with rubber on the bottom.) I drove this car for 7 years and 110,000 miles, and it survived a couple fairly serious accidents. I passed it down to my son. No matter how it was abused, it just kept going. He drove it for another 4 years and a further 80,000 miles (several very long road trips), and then totaled it.

#5 - 2005 Prius with package #6 - Purchased when I gave the Outback to my son. Loved my Tideland Pearl. I got the highest package because I had to in order to get side-curtain air bags, and safety was a big concern given the track record of what happens to my cars. I had to admit that I liked the other bells and whistles that came with it. Drove it for 7 years and 65,000 miles. Then I decided that I wanted to trade in a car that had absolutely nothing wrong with it... sort of break the totaled car curse.

#6 - 2012 Prius Four. I'm loving every minute of it.

 

I put 250,000+ on my '81 Olds Omega before I gave it to my brother, who put 50,000+ on it before it finally went to the junkyard in the sky. Only minor things were ever done to it to keep it going. That car had the quietest interior, on the highway, that I had ever owned.

 

Ouch! Even my 1984 Ford Lemon POS went more than 100k miles. Every household car since has been far better.

 

Yup, 100k+ miles relatively trouble free is the norm these days and has been for some time. Our 83 Toyota Camry and 91 Honda Accord both went over 200k with minimal work before we gave them to my mother in law and they were still reliable cars. She got at least 30k more off each car over 7 or 8 years with essentially zero maintenance, rare oil changes and no pampering before she got rid of them. My wife's 2000 Acura was close to like new at 100k miles when we traded it for a 2006

Newer cars are even better.

 

The long life cars I mentioned were my wife's cars, She isn't going to switch to a Prius or equivalent in this lifetime. With the foolishness she puts up with from me, I'm fully willing to indulge her taste in cars.
I will get her to at least look at a Hycam and Fusion hybrid next car buying session.

 

I've set my goal at 100 thousand miles per new car, at that point I get rid of them and get a new one, now all I have to do is live for the next 80 thousand miles so I can get that next one.

 

That is what I liked about my household's mid-late-80s Hondas. Twenty years later, they still rated as having excellent MPG.

The bad part -- when they were twenty years old, the nation's MPG expectations for non-hybrids had actually slipped backwards. At least that is now changing.

 

The cars that try to kill you are the most fun - these have tried to kill me in the past few years:

Dodge Viper (ACR)
Lotus Elise (R)
Honda S2000 (AP1)

Going by that metric, I'd own a car for a good 20 minutes.